


poor wayfaring strangers

by Super_Danvers



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Implied divorce, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, MAJOR MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, Major Violence, Multi, Other relationships - Freeform, Previous Relationship Angst, Sanvers - Freeform, Sanvers Endgame, Self Harm, Super angsty, Zombie Apocalypse, do NOT read if you're squeamish, implied other relationships, like i cannot stress the amount of angst, maggie sawyer lena luthor friendship, major pining, sanvers au, sanvers is absolutely endgame, separated across the world, the walking dead - Freeform, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Danvers/pseuds/Super_Danvers
Summary: Separated by the end of the world, and the living dead, Maggie and Alex Danvers-Sawyer will find a way back to each other. Whatever it takes, whoever's blood will be shed - it doesn't matter. Not to them.
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers & Maggie Sawyer, Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers/Mon-El, Lena Luthor & Maggie Sawyer
Comments: 19
Kudos: 31





	1. early days

Day 18  
National City was a ghost town. The only thing that could be heard was when the occasional gust of wind blew a discarded newspaper across the dusty road. That, and the sound of Maggie Sawyer’s boots scuffing against the concrete. Armed with her gun at her waist, a duffel bag in her hand, and a chipped-up baseball bat strapped to her back, the former detective was completely alone in the abandoned city. 

  
All around her were discarded cars, burnt-out from the riots or mashed together in a tangle of metal wreckage. Buildings stood dormant and crumbling, a few charred by the military from the week it started. That was another thing: military machinery was still everywhere. Tanks with dead soldiers strewn over them, their skin pecked at by hungry crows, and a crashed chopper lay wedged into one of the bay side’s railing. It was a graveyard of the unburied. Bodies were everywhere. Mostly civilians but a few wore cut up remains of military and NYPD uniform. But none of them were wearing the uniform that Maggie was looking for.   
Far off in the distance, amongst the skyscrapers, there was a mass of smoke spreading across the sky like wildfire. Maggie had seen it plume as a fireball of smoke a few hours earlier, which had commenced her treacherous journey to find supplies while the dead were distracted. She figured the blast had been set off by some other survivors, or maybe some dumb kids messing around. Whoever had done it, she was glad for their knowledge of explosives. 

  
Because most of the dead were drawn to the noise, Maggie now had several tins of food, three new guns and several bottles of water tucked into her duffel bag. All she needed now was a new vehicle with enough gas to get her to Midvale. The former detective had lost her beloved motorcycle to the riots in the early days, something she was still bitter about.   
As she checked around the more mobile looking cars, the walkie on her waist crackled into life:

  
“Maggie? Maggie, are you there?” 

  
Maggie raised the walkie to her mouth:   
“Yeah, Lena, I’m here. What’s up?” She replied, keeping a good look out in case of any walkers sneaking up on her. 

  
“It’s Jaime. She’s getting worse.” The dark-haired woman informed her, concern lacing her voice. “Have you found any new inhalers yet? I’m pretty sure she’s on her last one.” 

  
Maggie gritted her teeth. “No, nothing yet. Pharmacy is a few blocks away; I’ll check in there. Try and keep her breathing level, go through her mom’s photos. She likes those.”

  
“Okay, be careful.”

  
“Over and out.” She resigned the walkie back to her waistbelt and continued onwards. Knowing that the pharmacy wasn’t far from where the blast was still smoking, Maggie drew the baseball bat from her back and readied herself in case of walkers. 

  
That was the brunette’s top concern right now; looking after Jaime. Her daughter was eleven, nearly twelve, and her asthma was getting worse and worse. Before, it had barely bothered the young girl aside from running races, or playing too much soccer. Now, she had to run all the time.   
The rest of Maggie’s walk was solitary, save for a few walkers that didn’t even notice her as they shambled towards the smoke. She almost considered following them, see what had actually been blown sky high. Maggie reckoned it was a store, or a school or something. The place had to be large to make that much smoke.   
Still, she pressed on to the pharmacy. Jaime was more important to her than a burning building. Rounding the corner, there were a couple of bites meandering around in the street. Maggie finished them off easily with expert strikes to the head with her bat. Her short time in this dystopian world had made Maggie fiercer, stronger, more lethal than before. 

  
Her strong biceps were now shined with sweat, and her face hardened by non-stop fighting. She’d taken a few scars to the face, thankfully none by the undead, but enough to change her. The most prominent one was on her left eye. It was a long, thin line that traced from her lower eyelid to the corner of her mouth. She’d gotten it on the first day, a piece of flying glass that had sliced right across her cheek. It had been up to Lena to neatly stitch the skin back together.   
It didn’t bother her all too much, it’d be a good war story for when this whole mess was over and the government wiped out the undead.   
When she finally reached the pharmacy, she wasn’t surprised about the state it was in. Its glass door and windows were smashed so that broken shards of glass were everywhere. There were more broken cars, more empty spray paint bottles, dead bodies, discarded items. Evidently, this had been a popular hit in the beginning. 

  
Maggie clambered in through its window, carefully treading over the glass and broken shelves. Surprisingly, there were actually more medical supplies left behind than she thought. There was Prevacid for Ambrose’ acid reflux and boxes of paracetamol just lying around.   
“God, if only medication had been this free while the dead stayed dead.” Maggie joked to herself as she shoved the drugs into the duffel bag. 

  
It took about half an hour of scouring the drug store, but Maggie left it satisfactory. In her arsenal now were at least eight inhalers, and various other kinds of medicines. As she stepped out of the window again, Maggie squinted at the black smoke in the distance. It was darkening the whole sky, making it seem like night was drawing in. She could see walkers shuffling towards it, groaning hungrily. For another moment, she pondered following them again. She couldn’t get rid of her detective brain. Something interesting was going on, and she wanted to follow it.   
Instead, Maggie raised her walkie up to her mouth again: 

  
“Lena? I’m coming back.” 

  
+

  
Maggie’s camp wasn’t anything special, but for now it was a home. There was an RV, owned by the giant Ambrose and a number of tents pitched up around a makeshift fire pit. They were surrounded by a rock quarry, which was wrapped by metal railing, and let the survivors gather water from its craters. The camp was also almost completely encompassed by tall, thick fir trees on one side, all stuck so close together that one could easily get lost in. It was worth the hour walk home.   
At its current time, it was lit up by the firepit, and a couple of flame torches were dotted around. The main light was coming from the top of the RV, looking for anyone or anything approaching.

  
“Maggie?” A loud voice boomed through the dark. “Maggie, is that you?”

  
Maggie shielded her eyes from the light being flashed at her. “Yeah, Ambrose, it’s me!” She called out in reply. 

  
The light was taken away from her eyes and Maggie was let in through the metal gate. Strong hands lifted the duffel bag from her shoulders, and thin arms wrapped themselves around her body.   
“You’re safe, thank god. I was starting to think we were going to have to send a search party.” 

  
Maggie returned the hug gracefully. “I’m fine, Lena.” She answered calmly. 

  
The Luthor woman let go of her and smiled, relief seemingly washing through her. The former CEO was one of the only friends Maggie had left, or as far as she knew. Somehow, when it started, Lena was the only person Maggie could find in the whole city. Both of them, and Jaime, had found safety together and now relied on each other to survive. It was odd, Maggie thought, how they hadn’t really been friends before and now here they were. Sticking it out in the apocalypse together.   
Ambrose, the one who’d taken the duffel bag, was hunched over it in the doorway of the RV. When he found the inhalers, he threw them gently to Maggie, who caught them deftly. 

  
“Jaime around?” Maggie asked, searching around the camp for the tween. 

  
Lena gestured to Maggie’s tent. “She wouldn’t go to bed until she saw you.” She told her. 

  
The brunette nodded her thanks and headed for the tent. She shared it with Jaime and Lena, as there weren’t enough individual tents to go around.   
The moment she unzipped the door and stepped inside; Maggie was met with a forceful hug. Immediately, she breathed in her daughter’s presence. She made the apocalypse worth living in. 

  
“Mom! You came back!” The girl sighed happily. Her voice was hoarse, and sounded scratchy. From the sounds of it, she’d been struggling with her calm breathing again. 

  
Maggie fished into her pocket and handed her a new inhaler. “Of course, I’m back, kiddo. Could never leave you, could I?”

  
Jaime took a breath of the inhaler, relief seemingly washing over her. Maggie smiled and flopped down on her sleeping bag, jokingly pulling the tween down by her waist. Jaime fell down, giggling as her mother grinned at her with a goofy expression on her face. Jaime looked like her mother, Maggie always thought. More Alex than Maggie, was what Kara always said, and Maggie agreed. The kid had Alex’s slim face, and her expressions. She did that whole wide-eyed-oh-no-I’m-in-trouble face whenever she got full-named. The only features that suggested Jaime was also Maggie’s were the dimples embedded into her cheeks and the freckles dotted over her nose against her olive tanned complexion. 

  
“Mom?” Jaime asked quietly, taking another grateful turn of the inhaler. She snuggled herself into Maggie’s side, resting her head on her mother’s shoulder and wrapping a small arm around her waist. “When are we going to find Mama?” 

  
Maggie bit back a sigh. This wasn’t the first time Jaime had asked this, and they both knew it wasn’t going to be the last. She couldn’t be angry at her; she still didn’t really understand the situation they were in. Maggie squeezed the kid close to her, and pressed a small kiss to her hairline.

  
“Soon, sweet girl, soon. We’ve gotta get a few more supplies, and a good car to get us there – then we’ll find Mama, and Aunt Kara, and everyone, okay?” 

  
There was a pause, that was followed by a quiet: “Okay.”

  
Maggie rubbed Jaime’s upper arms reassuringly. “It won’t be long; I promise you that.” She told her determinedly. There was another pause, and then the brunette grinned. “But we’re not going anywhere without dinner first, right?”

  
Jaime matched the grin and sat up faster than a shot. “Right.” 


	2. day one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Maggie finds herself a new vehicle, let's go back to where it all began.

**Day 1**

  
_“Maggie? Maggie! I’m trying to get home but-but there’s roadblocks, they’re not letting anyone through. Nobody can get out of Midvale!_ ” Alex’s voice was practically screaming down the phone. _“Where’s Jaime? Have you got Jaime?”_

  
Maggie strained to hear her wife’s yelling as the air was filled with the sounds of sirens. They weren’t regular sirens, not like the ones she’d heard every day at the station, not like the ones that filled the streets at night. These were a long, deep singular note that sounded like a huge bassoon being played on the loudest speaker in the world. It was a crisis siren. People clutched their ears tightly as it kept bellowing.   
That was another thing; people were everywhere. Yes, National City was a huge place but there were hundreds of people on this street alone. Running down the streets, honking their horns and screaming for each other. Maggie was glad she wasn’t in their car, because not a single vehicle was moving in this traffic. 

  
_“What’s that noise? Maggie, what’s that noise?”_ Alex shouted. _“Have you got Jaime? Is she with you?”_

  
“I’m running to her school now, there’s cars everywhere. I’ll get her, don’t worry. I’m nearly there now.” Maggie replied, sticking a finger in her spare ear to hear her better. 

  
_“Good.. I’ll come find you.”_

  
“No, we’ll come to you. National City is too dangerous, I don’t know what’s going on but everyone is going fucking crazy.”

  
 _“I’ll explain when we see each other…just…Ma-“_ Alex’s voice suddenly sounded warped, and the phone glitched in and out. 

  
“Alex? Alex, are you there?”

  
 _“Jamie-“_ Alex’s voice abruptly cut off and the line went dead.

  
Maggie frowned, stopping in her tracks. “Alex?” She tried ringing her back but her phone only read: _No Service Available_.

  
Figuring wherever Alex was she was maybe out of range, it happened often in Midvale, Maggie pressed on towards Jaime’s school. She knew it wasn’t far but with the riots going on, it felt like a million miles away. Maggie was just glad her captain had given her permission to go and get Jaime. 

  
She rounded the corner, now on the final stretch towards the school. Her heart felt like it was beating louder than the sirens, hammering against her chest like it was trying to leap out of her chest. 

  
The street was carnage, full of parents just like Maggie. In the middle of the road was a scrimmage of cars, all on fire, and people were all around it, screaming. Because of the burning pile of cars, there weren’t any other cars in the road, clearing it of traffic. Some people were covered in blood, others had burns all over their body, a few lay dead on the concrete, but one stood out to Maggie in particular. 

  
It was a man, about twenty metres away, and he was shuffling towards her. He was limping – and his head was lolled to one side like it weighed a ton. A low throaty growl was getting louder as he wandered towards her. Maggie stopped in her tracks, frowning at the man. His skin was grey, deathly grey, and sagged around his face as if the flesh were clinging onto his skull like it was being dangled off a cliff. His eyes were misty and bloodshot, and seemed to search for nothing in particular.   
That’s not what struck Maggie though. What kept her frozen in place was his mouth, or lack thereof. Where the man’s jaw should’ve been was what could be described as a bloody lump that hung from the bottom of his face. Most of his face below his nose was smeared in blood, and teeth stuck out of it at jagged angles. He looked like he’d put about eight shotgun bullets in his face. _How in the fuck was he alive?_  
He shuffled closer, his growls growing louder and louder. He wasn’t fast, but Maggie didn’t like how close he was getting.

  
“Stay back!” She exclaimed, holding her hand out in front of her. It didn’t stop him. “C’mon, man, I don’t want any trouble. You need to get that looked at, okay?”

  
The growls only became more aggressive, his misty eyes locking onto Maggie’s small figure. Now he got faster, evidently his target and been made. 

  
Maggie pulled her gun from her belt. “I _will_ shoot you, back up!”

  
She’d never seen anything like it. The man didn’t even acknowledge Maggie was speaking to him, in fact it seemed to only rile him up more. He reached forwards with gnarly fingers, roaring hungrily. Maggie was about to pull the trigger when something huge appeared behind the growling man and knocked him to the ground.   
It was another guy, and he stood over the other with a shotgun in his hands. Without a second thought he released a shell into the growling man’s brain, and he fell silent. The man was huge, built like a WWE wrestler with biceps thicker than Maggie’s whole torso, and sweat gleamed off his dark skin. He was dressed in a grey shirt covered with a flannel, and black cargo pants; all were splattered in blood. He stared at Maggie with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face. He looked terrifying. Luckily for Maggie, he was a familiar face. 

  
“Ambrose!” She exclaimed, her voice mixed with relief and confusion. “I…uh – what?”

  
The man, Ambrose, cocked the gun again and swung it over his back. He approached Maggie, grabbing her by the elbow and then started directing her towards the school’s parking lot.

  
“The world’s gone crazy, Mags. There are people eating people! Eating them!” He told her, as if he hadn’t just shot that man. “We need to get out of here.”  
“I need to get Jaime.” That was all Maggie could reply with. She stepped carefully past the dead man, her eyes widening at the pool of blood that was forming around his head. 

  
She figured Ambrose must not have heard her over the noise because he kept pulling her towards his RV. The familiar faces of his son, James, and his younger daughter, Lacey, were pressed up against the window. They looked terrified. 

  
“I need to get to Jaime!” She said louder, pulling her elbow from his grip. “She’s waiting for me.”

  
“I’ve got her, now let’s go!” Ambrose shouted. He tried to take Maggie’s hand but she pulled away, earning a groan. “For gods’ sakes Maggie, I didn’t know if you would make it so I grabbed her while I was getting Lacey – now come on! We can’t go home, there’s no home left! Let’s go!” 

  
As if on cue, Jaime’s little face appeared next to Lacey’s. She looked as terrified as the other two, but relief washed over both her and Maggie as the two saw each other. 

  
“Jaime.” Maggie breathed, her shoulders sagging thankfully. She glanced up to Ambrose, and they regarded one another. “Alright, let’s go.” 

  
“You see one of those dead things, and you shoot it. In the head. It’s got to be the brain.” He muttered to her as they ran for the RV. “I got one earlier, shot it in the chest and it just kept comin’”

  
Maggie barely heard him as she reached the door, yanking it open and diving inside. Ambrose went for the driver’s seat and the RV launched away.   
Jaime was in her mother’s arms in seconds, crying into her shoulder. She was wearing the same clothes that Maggie had bid her goodbye in that morning: a blue Legend of Korra t-shirt, one of her mother’s old police jackets, jeans and converse with the Supergirl insignia on the side. The only difference was that the single braid her hair had been tied in was now undone, and ran down her back.   
The moment their hug ended, Maggie was checking her daughter all over, making sure she was unharmed. Aside from a couple of scrapes and the old scar on her upper lip, she seemed fine, although she was still crying loudly. 

Maggie caught a glimpse of the scene outside as the RV managed to get out of the parking lot. Jaime’s school was engulfed in flames that blackened the sky above. Emerging from the entrances and exits were more of those shuffling people Maggie had just encountered. A cold shill ran down her spine as she looked back to Jaime: she could’ve been part of that. 

  
“Mom, what’s going on?” She sniffed, tears dribbling down her cheeks. “Ms. Webber looked really ill, and then she got really mad, and she bit Mr Jordan, and Mr Jordan kept screaming and there was loads of blood- I want to go home.”

  
Maggie wrapped Jaime into her arms again. She couldn’t listen to it. After a brief hug, the detective squatted in front of her daughter. 

  
“It’s okay, Jem. We’re going to go find Mama at Grandma Eliza’s, and we’re going to wait until this all blows over.” She tried to use a reassuring voice, for what it was worth. In truth, Maggie was just as scared as Jaime was. “Did you manage to grab anything from school?”

  
Jaime nodded and used the cabinets around the RV to steady herself as she crossed to the back and picked up her dark backpack. 

  
As she made her way back, Maggie glanced to the other two kids sat in their seats. She knew them, vaguely. Lacey, the girl, was in the same class as Jaime and had been mentioned often over the Danvers-Sawyer dinner table. She looked unharmed, curled into her older brother’s side. James was older, about fourteen or fifteen as far as Maggie could remember, and had babysat for them a few times. 

  
“Are you okay?” She asked, noticing the boy’s expression was sullen and pale. 

  
“Mhm, yeah.” He mumbled, tucking himself further into his little sister. “I’m good.”

  
The brunette could sense something was wrong but before she could press further, the RV suddenly lurched to the side, its wheels screaming in the process. Ambrose hissed a curse through his teeth, trying to right the truck again with his hands jerking the wheel left and right. Jaime yelped, and stumbled, but Maggie caught her quickly whilst the other two kids held on tightly to each other.

  
“We’ve got a problem!” Ambrose shouted over his shoulder, pulling the RV to a stop. 

  
“What is it?” 

  
“Come look.” He replied, leaning on the horn. 

  
Maggie settled Jaime next to Lacey and James. “You stay here, all three of you, you understand? Do not move.” When they nodded, the former detective pulled her gun from her waistband and headed to the front of the RV.

  
“Jesus Christ.” She breathed.

  
It was the park, one that Maggie had frequented plenty of times in her lifetime, except now that it wasn’t. Where a water fountain had been was now a huge crater filled with debris and fire. Paper was everywhere too, flying around with the smoke and the ashes. There was a propeller sticking out of a tree, and remnants of a logo were still readable on a piece of wreckage that poked out the top of the crater. Maggie squinted, trying to read it closer:  
“What does that say? On the top bit, there. … It’s….maybe, starts with an L…?” She muttered. 

  
Shufflers, hundreds of them, were swarming towards the flames as if they were moths drawn to a lightbulb. Maggie and Ambrose regarded them silently, noticing how they were attracted the noise and the light. 

  
“What do you think happened?” Ambrose asked, gently lowering his hand to the door and locking it. 

  
“I don’t know…” Maggie murmured, shifting her gun to both hands. “I’m going to check it out.”

  
“Wait.” He held out his hand. “Look.”

  
Maggie followed his finger out the front window. There was a figure, dressed in burned clothing and covered in ash, scrambling out of the crater. It was woman, at a squinted glance, with long-dark hair that pulled up into a ponytail. She was flailing around in the street, shouting for help, screaming at the shufflers that got closer and closer to her. Maggie’s eyes widened as she recognised the voice: one she’d heard a million times in their apartment, heard a million times on the news, and mentioned a million times in every newspaper, magazine and documentary: 

  
“It’s Lena.” 

  
Ambrose didn’t have time to grab her as the brunette dived out the side door and made a beeline for the frightened CEO.   
The street was starting to swarm now, and by some miracle Lena was managing to dodge everything. The alarms were still sounding, which maybe meant the shufflers couldn’t hear her screaming as much. 

  
“Lena!” Maggie shouted, keeping her eyes glancing between all the dead things. She wasn’t far, maybe ten metres or so, so close that Maggie could almost grab her. “Lena!”

  
The woman stopped, finally hearing the detective shouting for her. Her entire body seemed to breath a sigh of relief as she recognised the brunette.

  
“Detective Sawyer?” She suddenly stopped, as if frozen in place. Her face of relief was suddenly exchanged for a face of terror. “Maggie, look out!”

  
In the three seconds Maggie had taken to stop so Lena could recognise her, she’d taken her eyes off the biters. Something suddenly grabbed her from behind, pulling her backwards by her arm. The brunette yelped as a shuffler roared in her face. It was about to sink its jagged, bloody teeth into her jacket until she stuck her gun between its eyes and pulled the trigger. It fell to the ground, blood and gunk splattering on the cement and on Maggie’s face. Its grip remained tight on her arm, nearly pulling her over with it. 

  
Maggie yanked her arm back and turned to Lena. “We need to go, now!” 

  
The growls of the walkers were starting to overwhelm the noise of the city, and Maggie’s gun had only attracted more of them. Lena nodded, letting the brunette grab her hand and yank her towards the RV. They bundled into the seats behind the kids, slamming the doors shut behind them. 

  
“Ambrose, go!”

  
The man didn’t need telling twice as the RV shuttled down an empty side road. Lena had burns all over, and her clothes were singed down to her skin. Maggie gave her the jacket off her back and put her gun back in her belt:

  
“What the hell happened to you?” She asked, throwing Lena’s burnt blouse to the ground. 

  
“The…helicopter.” Lena’s voice was hoarse, and out of breath. “It’s one of Lex’s: one of his evacuation ones…someone was bit. Eve was bit. We tried to get her airlifted out to a hospital, the one downtown is overrun. I-I…I don’t know what ha-happened…”

  
“Jesus.” Maggie breathed. 

  
“It just, went down and – I don’t know – I couldn’t see anything. When I woke up, those sirens were going on and everyone was _dead_. Then I got out, an-and here y-you are.”

  
The brunette sighed and brought Jaime into her arms. “We’re heading to Midvale to go find Alex and Kara, you coming?”

  
Lena matched Maggie’s sigh. “Of course, I am.” There was a long pause and then she spoke again. “The world is ending…and I’m stuck in an RV.”

  
Maggie laughed. “Wait till you realise there’s no coffee left.”


	3. pool of water

Day 19

  
Maggie woke the next morning feeling as stiff as a board. She stretched her arms out of her sleeping bag, groaning as her muscles whined against the movement. Outside her tent, she could hear laughter and immediately knew it to be Jaime’s. Reaching out beside her, the other two sleeping bags were cold and empty, which meant both Jaime and Lena were already up. She could hear them laughing outside. 

  
At first, Maggie had felt a little apprehensive about letting Lena take care of Jaime, especially since she had started going on more and more runs. Lena had only really taken care of Jaime as a toddler, and even then that had been under Kara’s supervision. That wasn’t to say Maggie didn’t trust Lena, because she did, but Lena had always been more of Kara’s friend than she had Maggie’s. However, since the world had ended, the two had begun to bond and Maggie had to admit that Lena was pretty cool – even without her wealth.   
The former detective – she had to get used to that – stepped outside of the tent, stretching her still sore muscles above her head. Lena, Jaime and Lacey were outside the RV, playing with an old soccer ball Maggie had found a few days ago. Ambrose was sat on the top of the RV in a sunchair with his shotgun across his lap and a pair of binoculars in his hands, staring over the quarry in his usual solemn mood. 

  
Maggie raised her hand to her eyes to block out the sun. “You okay up there, Ambrose?” She asked. 

  
“Mhm.” He replied quietly. “You making another run today?” 

  
“Yeah, I am. I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.” 

  
Ambrose gestured to the ladder and looked back out on the quarry, resigning himself from the conversation until she was on top of the RV. Maggie glanced at the girls playing, and offered a small smile in the form of a greeting. Lena nodded in return, and the kids hardly noticed. They were too busy playing with the soccer ball.   
The brunette clambered to the top of the RV, settling down beside Ambrose with her legs dangling over the side. 

  
“I’m planning on getting into the DEO.” She announced, staring out over the abandoned quarry site. She could see a couple of the other survivors out on the water at the bottom, fishing in a boat. “They’ll have vehicles that’ll get us to Midvale.”

  
“What makes you think the DEO is still standing?” Ambrose replied. His tone was calm and unbothered, but Maggie could hear the doubt in his voice. 

  
“Nobody knew about the DEO, not in National City. According to every police report, the people in the black body armour were ‘Special Forces’.” Maggie made quotation marks with her fingers. “There’s got to be something left in there.”

  
“Wouldn’t agents have taken them? In the evac?” 

  
Maggie shrugged. “Possibly. I have to look though.” She glanced at him, squinting through the sun. “There might be something for Jaime there too, from her mom, I mean. Alex used to take all sorts of Jaime’s things to work. I’ll go today.”

  
“And if you find a vehicle? Then what?”

  
“Then we’ll be going. Me, Jaime and Lena.” She stood up again, stretching one more time. “I wish you’d come.”

  
Ambrose shook his head and adjusted his seat. “No, I want to get James to his grandmother. She was a doctor, maybe she can figure this infection thing out.” He regarded Maggie. “Take the Gruesome Twosome with you, they’re itching to get out.”

  
Maggie nodded. She didn’t miss the way Ambrose glanced at the RV’s skylight when he talked about James. The fourteen-year-old boy had been stuck in the family’s RV for two days now, and his health was getting worse.   
He’d been scratched a couple of days ago, while on a run with Maggie and Lena, and his temperature had been rising ever since. One of the other survivors, an old woman named Jane, had been trying to keep his fever down but it didn’t seem to be doing much. Maggie felt awful, considering the teenager had been on her watch.

  
Finally, after a moment, she clapped a hand on Ambrose’ shoulder. “I’ll be back before dark.” She promised. 

  
Maggie hopped back down from the RV and headed over to the girls. They’d made a makeshift goal with sweatshirts and now Jaime stood between the posts with a determined look on her face. Lacey had the ball a few metres back, preparing to strike with Lena on the side-line with loud commentary:

  
“Lacey Lewis lines up her shot, ready to take on world-star Jaime Danvers-Sawyer. The entire game relies on this – will she break under pressure?” The brunette said enthusiastically, doing her best to break both of the girls’ nerves. “She shoots, she scores!”

  
Jaime landed in the dirt in a heap and grumpily slapped the ground. “Damn it!”

  
Maggie raised an eyebrow. “Jaime! Have I taught you nothing?” She eyed Jaime’s guilty expression and smirked. “Keep your knees bent when you’re in goal, it’ll help you dive to the side better.”

  
The tween grinned, cleaning herself off. “Sorry, Mom.” She responded.

  
As the two girls lined themselves up to go again, Maggie joined Lena at the side-line and folded her arms. 

  
“I’m going out again.” She said quietly, keeping her eyes on Jaime. She pretended she didn’t hear the tiny gasp that came from Lena.

  
“Again? You only went out yesterday.” She scolded under her breath. “At least let me come with you.”

  
“No.” Maggie replied sharply, mentally reminding herself to keep her voice low. “Stay here and look after Jaime. If I don’t come back, I want her to be with a friend.”

  
“God, you’re more morbid than I am.”

  
Maggie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. I care about you enough to not take you into a death trap, be happy about that.” 

  
Lena scoffed a laugh. “You care about your daughter enough to leave me here. You don’t give a shit about me.”

  
“Fuck off.”

  
There was a brief pause of silence before the two burst into quiet bouts of laughter. It perked the attention of Jaime, who crept up on them curiously. “Mom?” She asked innocently. “What are you talking about?” 

  
The laughter fell silent, and the two women shuffled awkwardly. Lena stared at her feet. 

  
“Um, I’ll go be goalie and leave you two alone for a minute.” She said, heading over to Lacey and kicking the ball around. 

  
Jaime’s curious expression turned to a sullen frown. “You’re going to the city again, aren’t you?”

  
Maggie sighed, feeling guilt wash over her. “Yeah, for the last time. Promise.”

  
“You said that last time.”

  
“I know.”

  
Jaime folded her arms and glanced away again. Alex used to do that, Maggie thought. With another sigh, the brunette crouched down to her daughter’s level. “I’m sorry, Jem, but I have to. I’m going to go to the DEO, and get one of Mama’s big trucks. You remember her Humvee? The big one that had the bed at the back?”

  
Jaime nodded. “The one we used on vacation last year?” 

  
“Mhm, yeah. I’m going to go and find one of those, then we can go. I mean it, all the way to Midvale and all the way to Mama.” She rubbed Jaime’s upper arms reassuringly. “Can you stay with Lena until then?”

  
The girl looked reluctant, but then she sighed and nodded. “ _Fine_.”

  
Maggie messed her daughter’s hair, and offered a small smile. “You sound like your mother when you do that.”

  
That was met with rolling eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

  
They hugged tightly before Maggie let her go back to her soccer game. She watched them for a few more minutes. Maggie wasn’t sure what she was meant to treasure nowadays: the fact Jaime was still young or the fact Jaime was still here. She’d started to accept her family was dead; it wasn’t like she would hear from them even if they weren’t. Maggie only hoped Alex was still alive.

  
“Maggie?” One of the other survivors approached. “Ambrose said you needed us?”

  
Maggie shook herself out of her reverie and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

  
+  
An hour later and Maggie was back on the trail that led back to the city with Lu and Paul behind her. Lu and Paul were a pair of nineteen-year-olds that had joined the group about a week ago after nearly being overwhelmed by walkers roaming outside the city. They were alright, a little odd, but decent enough kind of guys – in Maggie’s opinion. She wouldn’t be surprised if she hadn’t arrested them a couple of times. 

  
Lu was the geeky one: he’d raided a comic book store when it had all started. This meant not only did he have a backpack full of comics, but he also carried what was – apparently – a very expensive katana sword wherever he went. Jaime liked to tease that it was surgically attached to his hand. However, despite his attachment to his nerdy things, the skinny kid was pretty handy with the sword and made for a good group member.  
Paul was the big one. Although he was just as geeky as Lu, Paul was definitely the muscles of the duo. He stood taller than Ambrose did and had muscles twice the size of Jaime. He didn’t need a weapon; his fists were enough. 

  
“So, Detective Sawyer, where are we headed today?” Paul asked, shouldering a duffel bag. 

  
Maggie smiled. “You know you don’t have to call me that, Paul. Just Maggie is fine.”

  
“Well, okay, just Maggie – where are we headed today?”

  
“The DEO.”

  
“The what?”

  
“The Department of Extranormal Operations.” Lu piped up, adjusting the sword on his hip. 

  
Maggie looked at him curiously. “How do you know about that? It’s meant to be top secret.” 

  
The kid shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. A great, big, massive skyscraper that’s got no actual function – at least not on the internet it doesn’t. People in black body armour come in and out regularly, driving big black Humvees that even the FBI don’t drive – and a shit ton of them come out when there’s aliens in the city. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’re a secret agency of some sort.” He delved into the pocket of his mustard jacket and pulled out an ID card. “It also doesn’t take a genius to hack some security clearance together either.”

  
Maggie’s jaw fell open as Lu handed her the card. “How the hell did you hack into the DEO?” 

  
He grinned mischievously. “Alien hunters like alien comics.”

  
Paul nudged him with a chuckle. “Yeah, that and they can’t handle their drink.”

  
Maggie shook her head and laughed. “God, Alex would have an aneurysm if she saw this.” She handed the card back to Lu. “Keep a hold of that, it might come in handy.” 

  
The three of them kept walking, and now that they were reaching the outskirts of the city, they began to ready themselves for oncoming walkers. As Maggie offered Paul a knife she’d recovered from the burnt-out police station armoury, she didn’t miss how the two boys didn’t let go of each other’s hand.  
It didn’t take long for them to find walkers, but thankfully they didn’t seem to be moving in herds. Lu sliced open their heads with his sword, Maggie slashed at them with her knife and crushed them beneath her boot and Paul, in some cases, could take one out with a single punch. 

  
“Jeez, man, were you Superman in a past life?” Lu grimaced as one swing from Paul sent a walker’s entire head flying off. “That’s gross.”

  
“I wish.”

  
Maggie held a finger to her lips. “Guys, try and keep it down. We don’t want to attract any more of the undead than we already do.” She told them, glancing around. 

  
They were in one of the outskirt neighbourhoods, one of the suburban places that Alex had probably shown her in a brochure before they had Jaime. Big, wide roads that separated two-storey houses with probably a moderately-sized pool in their back garden and likely had neighbourly pot lucks hadn’t been the life Alex nor Maggie had envisioned. Well, _Maggie_ hadn’t.  
She was glad she hadn’t. The wide roads were covered in trash, broken fence posts and dead bodies. Grass on front lawns was starting to become uneven and overgrown, and had rusting lawnmowers on them. Windows were smashed and broken, and the insides were ransacked. It looked like they’d been majorly hit before the evacuations.

  
The trio moved as a unit: Maggie at the front, Lu in the middle and Paul at the back. This neighbourhood was pretty quiet, aside from the odd biter that shuffled at a snail’s pace. 

  
“Hey Lu, you’re the renowned criminal of the group,” Maggie teased, nodding toward one of the abandoned cars. “…reckon you can hotwire that?” 

  
Lu put his sword back in his sheath and followed her gaze, pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Sure thing. I’m just worried it’ll make some noise.”

  
Paul nudged him. “It’ll be fine. If we get into any trouble, we’ll cover you.”

  
Maggie nodded her agreement. “Plus, there’s not much activity anyway.”

  
The three of them moved towards the car: a rusty orange American Ford Focus. It was untouched, except for a long key scratch up one of its doors. Lu looked over it for a few seconds, tried the door and then sighed.

  
“Right.”

  
“What is it?”

  
He gestured to the car door, which was locked, and looked around. “I’m going to need some kind of wedge and a coat hanger, a metal one preferably.”

  
Paul looked at the door of the closest house. “We’ll try in there; the door is open.” He clapped a hand on Lu’s shoulder. “You stay here, try and wiggle the trunk open. Be careful.”

  
“Got it.”

  
Maggie and Paul crossed across the road towards the house, keeping their weapons readied in case someone was still living there. Maggie’s heart felt like it was about to leap out of her chest as it hammered against her ribs. She didn’t know why she felt so nervous: she’d been in much more dangerous situations than this over the past three weeks. 

  
“Hello?” Paul called out, to which Maggie punched his arm hastily.

  
“Ssh!”

  
“What?” He whispered in return. “You want someone to shoot us?”

  
“Shut up.” She hissed in response.

  
There was no response, so the two pressed forward into the house. It was moderate, nothing fancy or expensive. A basic living room, a basic dining room, and a basic kitchen. Granted, it was messy. Clothes were strewn around on the sofa and cupboards drawers had been emptied. 

  
“Someone left here in a hurry.” She muttered. 

  
“You figure that out by yourself, detective?” Paul replied, annoyance flickering his tone. 

  
She rolled her eyes and headed upstairs silently. Again, it was a basic house but there were items strewn around. Barely any personal items, no jewellery or family photos. Maggie rifled into the wardrobe. All clothes were gone, mostly along with their hangers but a couple remained. She pulled out two wire ones and threaded her arm through them. Now she needed to find a wedge. 

  
There was hand mirror on the dresser in front of the window and as she picked it up, she glanced at her appearance. She looked rough. There were bags under her eyes, and the scar underneath her left eye made her face look mashed and ugly. Her hair, greasy and tangled, lay limply on her shoulders. God, you look like one of the undead.  
A splash caught her attention and she perked up to look out the window. In the garden was as Maggie guessed, a moderately-sized pool but what was in was not what she expected at all.   
A refrigerator lay underneath the pool’s water, which was almost completely black. Maggie could only spy the fridge poking out of the top, along with leaves and clumps of mud that made the water murky and gross. The splash had come from Paul, who smacked the water with a stick he’d found. Maggie shoved the mirror into her pocket and hurried downstairs. 

  
“What the hell are you doing?” She whispered angrily as he smacked the water again. 

  
Paul threw the stick down. “There’s a fridge in there. It might have food in it.” He crouched onto his hands and knees and tried to reach out to the top of the fridge. “I could get it out.”

  
“Any food in there is ruined. If not by the date then definitely by the water, look at it. It’s disgusting.” Maggie shook her head. “Leave it, Paul.”

  
“No, I can get it out. Come and help.”

  
“Even if we could get it out and wasn’t ruined, we can’t carry it all.” Maggie seethed, remembering why Paul could be so annoying. “C’mon, we need to go get that car.”

  
Paul stood up again. “No, you need to go and get that car for you. Lu and I have nothing to do with this!” He started shouting now. “When you’re gone, we stay. We’re doing you a favour so you can repay us by helping me get this fucking fridge out of this pool!”

  
“Keep your voice down!”

  
Paul got into the pool, letting the water come up to his waist and started shoving the refrigerator, grunting angrily. “God fuckin’ damnit Maggie help me get it out!”

  
“You’re insane.”

  
Paul opened his mouth to shout at her again when suddenly the water came alive. Grey bodies emerged like whales from the water and were on Paul in seconds. Huge, snarling teeth and drooling jaws wrapped around his neck, his arms, and all over his body. Twenty walkers that had been submerged by the grossness on top of the water now pulled Paul under the water as he kicked, punched and screamed. 

  
_“No!”_ Maggie screamed, pulling her gun from her waist belt and firing as many rounds as possibly into the water. 

  
“Ma…help..!” Paul cried out, water gurgling into his bloody throat and making him choke and splutter. He thrashed around, trying to get the loud growls of the walkers off of him, but to no avail. They pulled him under and his screams fell silent.

  
“Maggie? What the hell is going-?” Lu came sprinting through the house, freezing to a halt when he saw the chaos unfolding in front of him. “No!”

  
He went to jump into the pool after Paul, but Maggie caught him around the waist. “You can’t!” She shouted.

  
The walkers in the water were starting to take an interest in Lu’s cries and Maggie’s shouts now. They moaned and tripped over one another as they tried to drag themselves out of the pool. 

  
“C’mon!” Maggie struggled to hold Lu back as he kept fighting to get to Paul. “We have to go!”

  
“We can’t! We have to help him!”

  
“Lu, he’s a goner. Come on, we need to go. There’s too many of them!” She grabbed his hand and yanked him away, making him trip and stumble over himself.   
As the two burst back out into the street, Maggie thrust the mirror and the clothes hanger into Lu’s hands. “Get busy!”

  
For a moment, he didn’t react but as soon as Maggie started taking out walkers that had been attracted to the noise, he started twisting the wire and setting to work on getting into the car.   
Walkers were everywhere, herding towards both Maggie and the commotion of the pool. She fired whatever rounds she had left into their heads, and when she ran out of bullets, she switched to her knife and baseball bat. Most of them were coming out of the houses, moving stiffly as if they hadn’t move since they’d died.

  
“Lu, hurry up!” She shouted, nudging herself closer to him as she held her now bloodied bat behind her head. 

  
“Sorry! Sorry, I’m just…” His voice was thick with tears and his hands were shaking with fear. “-there!”

  
The two were inside the Ford in seconds and it didn’t take long for Lu to hotwire it for it to lurch away, smacking into over a dozen walkers and roaring away from the street. Maggie threw their stuff into the back seat before finally letting herself sink into her own to catch her breath. 

  
“Jesus Christ, what the fuck was that? What was that, Maggie?” Lu practically screamed at her as he swerved around the road. “Paul…-he’s….he-“

  
“ _Just_ drive, Lu!” She sighed. 

  
She was exhausted, and was soaked in pool water and sweat clung to every inch of her body. She had no energy to argue. Instead, she dragged her eyes to the window. It was covered in blood and…bits. Maggie tried not to be sick, so instead let her eyes shut and hoped nothing would eat her in her sleep.   
This was a mistake. 

  
**A big one.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry this update took forever! I've just started my self-isolation and my college just got cancelled so I should have more time to write on this.   
> Please be safe and smart during this time because I don't wanna end up how this fic turns out.  
> Enjoy!


	4. the beginning of the end part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie finds a familiar face in the mouth of the beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, so this chapter is quite short because it's the first instalment of a triple-parted chapter which will feature another flashback. Anyway, hope this short chapter doesn't make you upset okay byeeeee

**Day 19**

The rest of the drive to the DEO was in complete silence, save for the muttered directions down each road. The only noise that could be heard was the rumble of the engine and the occasional groan of a walker they passed. Maggie had been into the city a million times and the emptiness no longer bothered her, but every time she saw another walker she was astounded by just how many people this had affected. She knew the virus had spread like wild fire, she’d watched the news while it had lasted, but she hadn’t expected it to wipe people out in a matter of days. The government hadn’t even sent the city into lockdown yet.

Maggie had also been keeping a steady eye on the plume of smoke they were inching every closer to. It was the same fire she’d seen yesterday, only now it looked worse. It completely filled the sky, almost making it look like night time had come early. In her head, she’d been trying to guess what it could be. It couldn’t be the DEO, because that was two streets over, and it couldn’t be a grocery store, because that wouldn’t make this much smoke.

“It’s on the right.” She told Lu quietly.

He obliged silently. Lu hadn’t spoken a word since their rushed getaway. Maggie could feel the anger radiating off of him, and the tension was so thick that she’d need a chainsaw to cut through it. She knew he blamed her, even though they both knew it wasn’t her fault. Paul had gone crazy back there, overcome by arrogance and fear, which was a bad mix. It still baffled Maggie that he had gone from being level-headed and cool to suddenly agitated and pissed off within ten minutes.

“Pull over on the left.”

Again, Lu obliged in silence and got out of the car with his sword in tow. Maggie joined him with a knife and a gun in her belt and the bat fastened to her back. Once they were both out of the car, they observed their surroundings.

The road itself was empty aside from a couple of cars parked on the sidewalk. There didn’t seem to be any walkers either. What attracted Maggie’s attention was the hundreds of bodies on the grass of the DEO’s front lawn. They were everywhere, strewn around like children’s toys that hadn’t been cleared away. Maggie swallowed hardly, knowing she was about to enter the mouth of Hell _. God_ , she thought, _and I used to love coming here._

Maggie nodded to Lu and the two began to step over the bodies towards the DEO’s front entrance. She recognised most of them, as a lot of them were dressed in usual DEO uniform. The others were civilians who probably died trying to get into the building, she reckoned. Maggie couldn’t imagine the DEO being much of a refuge centre. They were everywhere, some stacked upon each other.

The brunette frowned. “Someone’s been here.” She muttered, noticing a pile of four dead DEO agents all placed meticulously on top of each other like Jenga. “Look.”

Lu touched the bodies with his boot and shrugged, then moved on. Maggie rolled her eyes: it was evident she wasn’t going to get any answers from him. She followed him up to the door and waited as he pressed his fake ID card to the door. When the huge, steel doors opened, Lu looked at her with a confused expression on his face.

“The DEO has its own backup generators. The thing has enough power to keep it running for up to two years should…anything happen.” She supplied, knocking the entry pad with her knuckle. “Everything runs on electricity here, so they’d need it.”

Lu shrugged again and drew his sword, holding it aloft as they moved into the building. The second they were indoors; the pair were greeted with more bodies. Again, these were more DEO agents. Some lay on the ground in pools of their own blood, and others sat slumped against the wall. On closer inspection, Maggie could spy some were bitten and had their brains blown out by someone, but others looked normal. Their skin, although cold, was still human and their eyes, if open, had normal pupils and weren’t bloodshot or misty. Lu kicked one by the stairs.

“Look at this.” His voice made Maggie nearly leap out of her own skin. She joined him to see an agent laying in the corner in a pool of his own blood. A bullet had been put between his eyes, which were open and stared straight ahead in an expression of pure terror.

“He-…” Maggie couldn’t make the sentence come out; her voice was thick with unexpected tears. She crouched down and looked at the agent, and was reminded of all the memories she’d had with him. She remembered all the times he’d make a teasing comment, or all the times he’d been a babysitter for her and Alex. The time he’d opened the door to Maggie in tears after they’d called off the engagement, and sat with her until she’d sobbed herself to sleep. All the times she’d ruffled his fluffy, light brown hair and teased him like he was her little brother.

Maggie tried to make the sentence again, but crumpled like a piece of paper. Tears overcame her eyes and trickled down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. A small, ragged sob came out of her throat, and accompanied it with a strained whimper. “Oh.” Was all she could manage.

Lu reached out and closed his eyes. “He’s not bit.” He mentioned softly.

Maggie reached out and took the dead man’s hand, squeezing it tightly. She didn’t want to leave him, didn’t want him to be alone. He’d been dead for weeks, been alone for weeks. Her being here now, was no use to him anymore. She should’ve come to find him on the day it broke out.

“I’m sorry.” Maggie whispered, reaching out with her other hand and closing his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

After a few moments, she let go of his hand and stood up again, drying her tears off with the back of her sleeve. Lu glanced from the dead man to the soggy Maggie, pondered for a moment, and then headed to the stairs. Maggie, with a final look, followed him. Now the tables had turned. Lu often muttered his thoughts to himself whilst Maggie stayed numb, and silent. It stayed that way for fifteen minutes until Lu found the entrance to the open floor of the DEO and stopped at the door. Maggie nearly crashed into the back of him.

“Did you know him?”

Maggie stared at her feet until Lu nudged her with his elbow. She dragged her eyes upwards, but still didn’t make eye contact. “Yeah.” She mumbled. “ _His name was Winn_.”

Lu tried the door, but upon finding it locked, he started to try and twig it. “Uh huh, think I remember a guy called Winn. Was he a total nerd?”

Maggie kept guard up and down the stairs, but listened to him carefully. “Mm, yeah, the biggest one I know – _knew_. He could tell you when every Avenger was born and could recite Slaughterhouse V down to the letter.” She said as she kept drying the tears off of her cheeks. “How’d you know him?”

Lu managed a grin as he stuck a clip into the lock. “Sounds like the guy who used to come into the comic book store every Wednesday. He wore comic-inspired ties and always got sheepish when we talked about that Supergirl lady flyin’ around. Reckon he knew her or somethin’.”

That made Maggie smile, remembering Winn’s face when he found out she knew Supergirl was Kara. That was what made Winn, Winn. His boyish, dorkishness for absolutely _everything_. She had to admit to herself that she’d forgotten about Winn, forgotten about the DEO completely. Hell, she’d forgotten that J’onn even existed. So many important people in her life that she had just forgotten in the past three weeks, she hadn’t even thought of them, let alone if they were still alive.

There was a click in the door and Lu practically fell over as he pushed it open. Maggie pulled her gun from her belt and got ready to train it on whatever might be in the open room. It was a lot of space to get shot in. She waited for Lu to stand up and draw his sword, then they burst in. At first, it seemed like the room was empty but the moment she’d crossed the metal bridge and got down to the pit, Maggie had to lower her gun.

“Holy shit.”


	5. the beginning of the end part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i deleted this chapter about two seconds after I uploaded it because I forgot an entire paragraph. Anyhoo, another short chapter because the next is going to be super long!

**Day -6**

Alex’s eyes were starting to hurt. Three hours straight of keeping them wide open was straining her vision and she still had two hours to go until it was Maggie’s turn to keep watch. She was tempted to rest her cheek on the gun because her neck was hurting too, but she always had a slight paranoia that if she so much as rested an eyelid on the Nordenfelt, then it would go off and their cover would be blown. Instead, Alex formed a pillow out of her arms and rested by blinking as fast as she could.

They’d been shacked up on the hill behind Zor-El Memorial Park for the past nine hours, huddled into a ditch overlooking a cul-de-sac of houses. Like most nights in National City, it was dry and cold and everything could be heard a mile away. It was said that apart from New York, National City also never slept. The night was filled with car horns, the screeches of stray cats and shouts of argumentative neighbours – and neither of the Danvers-Sawyer duo could get a thought straight, let alone get any decent sleep.

Maggie, who was curled up in her sleeping bag in the trench beside Alex, stirred slightly in her sleep. She’d been passed out for the past hour and a half with knuckle grazing up against Alex’s pant leg, just in case she moved. Alex was tempted to just let her sleep: she looked so peaceful. Her frown lines would clear, her eyebrows didn’t knit themselves together, and occasionally a tiny smile would flicker across her features. She was dreaming. Still, the peace couldn’t last.

Alex poked Maggie’s side gently. “Mags…Maggie, are you awake?”

The brunette mumbled in her sleep, and the frown appeared as she tried to wrap herself tighter in the sleeping bag. Alex poked her again, making her crack open one eye. “What?”

“Do you mind taking over for a little bit? My eyes are killing me.” She asked.

Maggie’s frown deepened and then she sighed. “Yeah, fine.” She replied, the reluctance evident in her tone. The brunette groaned as she stretched out of the sleeping bag, and handed it to Alex. “You couldn’t keep your eyes open for another half hour?”

“What difference would half an hour make? I’d still have an hour and a half to go after that.” Alex replied, pulling the sleeping bag up to her chin as she settled into the trench. “Myerson isn’t going to go anywhere in the next half an hour.”

“You don’t know that.” Maggie warned. “Plus, if you’d stayed awake for another half an hour, I could’ve gotten a full two hours of sleep. Haven’t had that since before we had Jaime.”

Alex ignored her and instead plugged in her earphones, letting the sounds of David Bowie drown out her wife’s unhappy voice. Maggie watched her until Alex turned on her side, and then scoffed and turned to the gun. Its barrel was resting on a pair of sandbags whilst the rest was propped up by itself. The house it was pointed at was dark, all the lights were off, but Maggie kept her eyes closely trained on it. If a single curtain even twitched, it was go time.

The couple were on a stake-out, their third this week, in the hunt of a drug kingpin named Fisher Myerson that they’d been tracking for the past four months. Maggie had nearly nabbed him a month ago whilst undercover, but an incident had let him slip, and she’d been pissed off ever since. Alex, in Maggie’s opinion, had not been helping that itch one bit. All her wife wanted to talk about was what went on during the three weeks that Maggie went undercover, and what Maggie had done, and what Maggie was doing. It was driving the brunette insane. Maggie just wanted to forget about it and move on, hoping the questions would end over time.

She had been staring out at the house for an hour when Alex turned back over again. The redhead’s eyes were wide open, as if she hadn’t slept at all, but she looked like the calm before a storm.

“Do you still carry the picture?” She asked, abandoning the sleeping bag beside her and facing the house.

Maggie didn’t look at her. “What picture?”

Alex made a noise that sounded like either a scoff or a sigh. “Don’t lie to me, Maggie.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “You _know_ which picture.”

There was a pause, and the only noise was the hum of the cicadas buzzing through the air. Then, Maggie spoke sotly. “No.”

Alex watched Maggie’s face as if she was waiting to see Maggie let a tell slip. Something that would tell her wife that she was lying. When Maggie’s face didn’t change, Alex focused back on the house. She picked up one of the pairs of night vision binoculars and tried to peer into one of the rooms that didn’t have the curtains drawn.

“Do you think there’s anyone in there?” She asked.

“No.” Maggie replied, and gestured to the full moon above them. “See how it casts a light? It’s on the door. If there was anyone in that room, they’d have to cross the light of the moon – we’d see it. Goggles or no goggles.”

“Right.”

“Besides, nobody would stay in there anyway. If Fisher has people over, they’d be staying in the basement, not the second floor.”

Alex frowned. “Why?”

Maggie pointed to the night vision goggles on her head, and then to the gun, popping an eyebrow. “For just such occasions.” She directed her finger back to the building and wiggled it up and down. “Best way to infiltrate it is to send the Alpha team in from above, the Beta team outside and keep snipers at a distance all trained on the door and garden gate. Only problem is, how do we get in from above without making too much noise? The upstairs rooms will have lookouts, but I can’t see any, can you?”

When Alex didn’t reply, Maggie glanced to her. The redhead was staring at her with admiration, her chin resting on her knuckles as she grinned.

“I love it when you talk like that.” She chuckled, but the smile faded and she adjusted herself. “No, I can’t see any lookouts. That means that upstairs is clear. Maybe you can get the Alpha team to come in through a window from the buildings next to it, you know, stick a plank of wood across and shuffle-“

“Shut up a minute.”

Alex didn’t hear her. “…in. If the first person who climbs across brings a crowbar-“

She didn’t get to finish her sentence because Maggie clapped a gloved hand over her mouth. “Shut up.” She snapped under her breath. When Alex obeyed, Maggie let go and pointed to the house. “ _Look._ ”

Alex followed Maggie’s finger and saw, through her night vision goggles, that a light had come on in the upper window. From the duffel bag, the redhead pulled out a tablet and tapped the occurrence in. “What do we need to do now?”

Maggie kept watching the house, her eyes fixed on the light like a moth. “Nothing. We can only do something when they actually leave the house. It’s probably just someone getting a drink from the fridge.” She answered. “It’s what usually happens at this time of night.”

“What is the time?”

“Two thirty.”

Alex sighed. “I wonder how Jaime is. Hopefully, Kara’s put her to bed by now.” She smiled as she recalled a memory. “Remember when we did that whole weekend in Vegas and came back to them – “

“No offense, Alex, but I don’t really want to talk about Jaime right now.” Maggie cut her off. When Alex fell silent, the brunette felt a little guilty. She sighed. “Look, after what happened – we can’t go back to how it was. We both know that. We both know we can’t go back to how we were before, it’s not the same and it’s not fair on you. Either of you. Can we just, you know, drop it?”

Alex swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, sorry.” She murmured. The redhead breathed in through her nose and shuddered herself back into action. “So, if we’re really going through with this then I ought to tell you that the divorce papers should arrive next week.”

“Okay.”

Maggie hated how thick how voice sounded, how weak she felt. She tried to ignore how her arms and legs went to jelly by shaking them but nothing helped. Maggie knew that if she stood up: her knees would buckle from underneath her.

They stayed silent for the rest of the stakeout, not a word being exchanged. The light in the house eventually went out and Alex and Maggie remained at their post until seven before returning to their car and heading home. Of course, Jaime was already up waiting for them and of course, Maggie hugged her tightly and had to explain why she couldn’t come home with her.

“You stay with Mama okay? Don’t forget, you’re going on vacation with her and Aunt Kara tomorrow. Go and say hi to Grandma for me, yeah?” She asked Jaime’s already sodden face.

“Please, Mom, don’t go. I want to stay with you.” The girl’s face crumpled again, wrapping her arms around Maggie’s neck. The brunette picked her up like she used to when she was a baby and cuddled her closed.

Alex left the room, earning a sympathetic look from Kara, who let Maggie make her excuses to follow her wife and a muffled argument had the two women leaving the bathroom half an hour later. Alex left without a word, prompting her sister to rush out after her, leaving Maggie and Jaime alone in Maggie’s apartment.

_They didn’t hear from Alex again._


	6. the beginning of the end part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie walks into the DEO and finds another familiar face.

**Day 19**

The DEO had always felt like an empty place for Maggie. Though it was constantly full of life, and people bustled around everywhere, it never felt like anywhere she could call home. Alex had been different, obviously, as she seemed to spend her every waking moment here. But Maggie had never liked it. Now it felt almost as empty as it always had. The doors weren’t occupied by armed guards, and the computers screen weren’t blaringly bright anymore: it was all dark. The only light that came in came from its giant balconies, and even that was starting to fade. But that wasn’t what was drawing Maggie’s attention.

Over by the main control portal, near where she remembered Winn used to sit, three faces stared back at the Maggie. There was one man, dressed in what looked to be a doctor’s coat and a woman with an elderly lady huddled amongst them. They looked frightened as they clung together in a circle. The man held out a gun, pointing it up at Maggie and Lu.

“Get back!” He shouted in a rough, Scottish accent. It wasn’t exactly surprising that he was Scottish, as his curly hair was a flaming auburn hue.

Lu elbowed Maggie’s side as he drew his sword. “What do we do?”

Maggie didn’t respond. She was too busy staring at the taller woman in the group. Her hair was short and messy, cut just above her shoulders and tied back into a miniscule ponytail. She was dressed in a white shirt with a tan leather jacket with some sort of makeshift body armour over the top that made her look like she was out of a movie. Big emerald green eyes stared back at Maggie, eyelids fluttering as if she recognised her. Lowering the hammer that was in her hands, the woman squinted closer.

“Maggie?” She questioned. “Is that you?”

Maggie pushed down Lu’s sword. _“Cara?”_

The woman ran across the floor and grabbed Maggie in a tight hug, laughing with relief. “Oh my god, am I glad to see you! I thought you were dead!” She cried, grasping at the detective as if she would never let go.

Maggie stood awkwardly for a second, then hugged the brunette back. “What are you doing here?”

Cara let go of her and grinned, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. “It’s a long story. Dr Abraham was here when it started and let me in after it had been overrun outside.”

“How long ago was that?”

The auburn-haired man put his gun away and folded his arms. “Two weeks and four days.” He answered. “The DEO let in refugees until they couldn’t let anyone else in. Mostly aliens, or family of those who work here – hence my mother over there – and then they started dropping napalm everywhere so people wanted to leave. Didn’t end well.”

“Jesus. It didn’t last long then.” Maggie looked up and down the DEO. She remembered how this building used to be. Winn used to be sat in his chair with a grin on his face and a headset draped around his neck. Alex used to be stood at the computer screens with her hands on her hips as if she were Supergirl herself. It used to make her laugh every time.

Lu sheathed his sword, a frown crossing against his features. “Is that why there’s all those bodies out there? All the ones in the hall and out on the grass?”

“Mhm.” The doctor confirmed. “People just panicked. Aliens got pissed off, someone pulled a gun – isn’t it always the way? No Supergirl around to stop them so all hell broke loose.”

Maggie shifted from one foot to the other, a little uncomfortable about the alien comment, but she brushed it off. Trust the bigots to survive the apocalypse. “What was your name again?”

“Dr Joseph Abraham. I worked here before it all kicked off.”

“I don’t remember you.”

Abraham scoffed and shook his head. “Yeah, you wouldn’t. Don’t think your wife would remember me, either.” He retorted. “All you field agents care about is how big your guns are.”

Maggie perked up at that. “You knew Alex?”

“Barely. I knew her for the first week of her training at the DEO, back when she was a drunk and a dropout.” A small chuckle crossed the man’s face. “Back when she was more interested in being a doctor and a scientist than an agent. That big alien guy quickly knocked that out her. Shame too. She was good, would’ve been great.”

“She _is_ great.”

Cara raised her eyebrows. “She’s alive?”

Maggie regarded the younger woman and scuffed her boot awkwardly against the floor. “Yeah. She’s in Midvale with her sister. I’m taking Jaime to go and find her.” She answered.

The brunette looked down and just nodded like a sullen child who’d just been told off. “Oh.” Was all she mumbled. Cara left Maggie’s side and crossed over to the old woman, checking over her briefly. “You feeling okay, CJ?”

The old woman just smiled sweetly, patted her hand and nodded. As Lu strolled around the huge space, picking up anything he could fiddle with, Abraham flopped into Winn’s chair and gestured for Maggie to sit in Alex’s. She obliged, taking only a brief glance at what remained on Alex’s desk. She didn’t want to really remember what Alex’s dumb work life was like: didn’t want to remember how she kept pencils in one mug and pens in the other, and one of Jaime’s police officer figurines kept guard of them both. Besides, she knew what that yellow folder behind her computer meant.

“So, Detective Sawyer, what will it take to make you leave, even though you just got here?” Abraham sneered, leaning back in the chair. “Or are you here to take over the DEO until Director Danvers and Supergirl make a miraculous return? But I assume you aren’t staying, if I remember correctly you and the Director have a daughter between you.”

Maggie held in the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that if Alex had stayed in the DEO as a scientist, she would’ve crushed men like Abraham. Instead, Maggie sighed. “We need one of the Humvees. That, and enough gas to get us to Midvale.”

“From downstairs?” Abraham raised an eyebrow.

“Unless you’ve got one on the roof.”

He scoffed. “Downstairs is overrun. It’s full of the dead. After everybody tried to leave, the whole building went on lockdown. All the doors are controlled by ID cards and the main computer.” He gestured to the screens. “I’ve figured most of it out so we can get to the canteen without encountering any of those freaks. They’re stuck in the basement and the underground garage.”

Maggie groaned. “How many are there?”

“Too many for us to handle.”

“Enough for four?”

Abraham scoffed again, and shook his head. “You’re insane. I can see why Director Danvers likes you. Even if it were enough, I’m not going down there. Now those doors have shut, they’re not going to open again.”

“How come?”

“I lost my entire department to those disgusting things. Watched them be ripped apart right in front of me. I was the only one to get back to this floor, and since then, everyone in here either got killed trying to leave or…opted out.” He gestured to his head with his fingers formed into the shape of a gun.

Maggie swallowed, understanding what he meant. She looked up at the computer screens. They were weak, imaginably due to the generators, but they showed the fuzzy pictures of a few empty corridors and the canteen. “So, you’ve been surviving out of the canteen?”

“Yeah.” Abraham replied. “Food is starting to run out though, and my mother’s getting worse. She ran out of her medication last week.”

“If you help us get the Humvee, we can get you more food and medical supplies.” Maggie offered.

“How would you do that?”

“I’ve been making runs into the city everyday for our camp. We’ve got food, and stuff your mom might need, and you can have a place to stay.” She explained. “Plus, you can get out of this graveyard.”

A smile twitched the corners of the man’s lips, but it didn’t seem genuine. “Even if I agree, I’m afraid that won’t be possible.”

Maggie opened her mouth to respond but Lu’s voice suddenly cut through the hair. “Uh, Maggie? What the hell is that?”

She whipped her head around to see her friend pointing to a monitor right at the back of the room. On it, were four big red numbers slowly counting downwards. From her distance, Maggie could read it only had just under an hour left. She looked back at Abraham.

“What’s it counting down to?”

“Action 5.” He responded quietly, leaning further back in the chair with a heavy sigh.

Maggie frowned and stood. “What’s Action 5? What does that do?” When Abraham didn’t respond, Maggie jolted his chair forward. “Dr. Abraham, what the hell does Action 5 mean?”

Her elevated voice drew the others closer, curious. Cara placed a hand on Maggie’s shoulder as if to calm her, but she looked equally as confused. Lu drew his sword again.

“Turn it off.” He demanded, with as much authority as nineteen-year-old the width of a twig could possess. He drew the katana again and pointed it at Abraham’s face. The doctor still looked unfazed by the countdown, his head leaning back contentedly as if he’d just had a shot of heroin up his arm. Maggie wouldn’t be surprised if he had before they’d gotten in there.

“I told you. Once those doors shut, they don’t open again.”

She turned to Lu. “Do you know what it is?”

“Action 5 means when that countdown gets to zero, the air will be set on fire and we all get blown sky high.” He replied, focusing a snarl on the doctor. “Turn it off.”

Finally, Abraham sat up and looked at them with a dazed look. “I can’t.” He responded calmly. “The countdown has been in place since the original generators ran out, it’s been running on backup for days. I reckon a biter gnawed through a wire or something – must’ve cut off the supply.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this?” Cara questioned in an angry tone. She seemed pretty hurt about this confession, so Maggie figured she hadn’t spotted the timer. “Why haven’t you run?”

“We never could’ve gotten out of here. We don’t have ID cards, and I don’t like our chances out there with those things, do you? Being ripped apart by those things?”

 _“That’s not your choice to make!”_ She shouted, tears threatening her cheeks. The brunette took in a haggard breath, then calmed herself down and turned to Maggie. “We need to get out of here.”

Maggie nodded in agreement, and looked to Lu. “Lu, you’re smart. See if you can figure out these controlled doors and which ones need that ID card of yours. Maybe we can open the ones that won’t let a hoard of biters follow us to the garage.” Lu put his sword away again and headed over to the main computer. Cara looked at Maggie expectantly.

“What do I do?”

Maggie held her by the upper arms. “The armoury is in the back, up on the rail bridge-“

“It’s locked.”

“And? Find something to break into it. Lu has a duffel bag, get as many weapons into it as possible. Oh, and pick one for yourself, you’re going to need it.”

Cara nodded her understanding. “What about you?”

Maggie glanced at the doctor. “I’ll catch up with you, now go! Hurry up!” She practically shoved the younger woman away towards the rail bridge, and when she turned to Abraham, he only held up his hands.

“I’m not going with you, Detective Sawyer.”

Maggie put her hands on her hips. “What about your mom?”

“She’s not going either.” Abraham took a big breath and exhaled like he was taking a smoke. “Listen, there’s no point in going out there. We’re wasting away naturally in here, and it’s better than being ripped apart out there. We’re the only ones left in the world, Maggie. There is no government, there is no DEO, there is no military and no police. This is it.”

“We could protect you out there, you know. You’d be a valued member to our group.” Maggie told him, putting her hands back down. When he just stood up to sit down in a chair next to his mother, she knew she’d lost. “Well, is there anything I can do for you?”

He shook his head and closed his eyes. “I’m only sorry that you came when you did, Detective Sawyer. I suppose it’s not the nicest welcoming to come back to your old home and find out some crazed doctor is about to blow it up.”

Maggie stared around the empty building and shook her head. “This was never my home.” She replied, and strode off after Cara. A quick glance over her shoulder saw the doctor rest his head in his mother’s arms as the two huddled together one last time. Maggie felt a little sorry for them, but felt a smidgen of relief that they were staying. It was hard enough to feed the group as it was.

As she approached Cara, Maggie glanced at the countdown. They had forty-five minutes. She felt her heartrate pick up and adrenalin starting to kick in, so she put a single boot to the door of the armoury and surprisingly, it burst open on the second try. She grinned to herself. _If I’d known it was this easy, I would’ve stopped asking Alex for a grenade years ago._

Although the armoury for the top floor wasn’t the best, Maggie had to admit it was still pretty cool. The twelve by six room held about two dozen guns, a flamethrower, a few machetes and even weapons that she didn’t know what they were. Unfortunately, she wasn’t here for all the fancy stuff. She pointed to the cardboard boxes under the shelves.

“There’s a big bucket of bullets under there, unload ‘em into the bag.” She ordered as she pulled two grey backpacks off of the wall and starting shoving the Glocks into them.

Cara smiled as she poured the bullets into her own bag. “It’s good to see you Maggie, it’s been a long time.” She said. “Y’know I thought if the undead hadn’t got you, then my dad surely would’ve.”

Maggie felt her cheeks go red, but tried to brush it off and hide it as she installed a loaded M16 over her shoulder. She discarded the bat. “He’s still kicking around?”

The brunette’s smile faltered for a moment. “He died on the first day. The Machino’s panicked and they all shot the crap out of each other at Georgie’s place.” She replied. “To be honest though, I thought he killed you a long time ago. I’d been getting a newspaper everyday looking for your obituary.”

Maggie couldn’t resist a chuckle as she zipped up the backpacks. “How sweet of you.” She leaned out of the doorway. “Lu! How’s the computer coming along?”

“I think I’ve got it!” He called.

She grabbed Cara’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Are you ready?”

“Think so.” The younger woman took the last Glock off of the wall and tucked it into her belt, then nodded. “Yep, definitely. Let’s role.”

She stuck out her hand for Maggie, making her eyebrows raise. The former detective hesitated for a moment, thinking of Alex and Jaime, but then thought _fuck it_ and took her hand. As the two of them darted out of the armoury, Maggie recalled back to the last time she thought _fuck it_ and ended up getting divorced.

“Lu, you ready?”

The boy waved his sword in the air. “Yeah, let’s go!”

The trio made for the doors again, Lu pressing his ID card against the pad. In his other hand, he was holding a piece of paper with scribbles all over it. Maggie figured, because he looked at it every five seconds, that it was directions to the garage. The corridors felt more like catacombs as they loomed dark like huge headstones. Maggie, Cara and Lu’s footsteps echoed throughout the halls as they followed Lu’s shouted directions. Although they stumbled blindly through the dark, Cara never let go of Maggie’s hand.

Maggie did want to feel guilty about it – she really did. But, something niggled in her mind to just embrace it, at least for now. She could worry about the consequences when it came down to them.

“Shit!”

Lost in her own thoughts, Maggie almost collided into the back of Lu, who had grounded to a halt. She didn’t need a torch or an explanation to know what was directly ahead of them. Growls and salivating roars filled the corridors and the smell of rotting flesh made them gag. Maggie took the M16 and turned its torch on, showing about forty walkers all stumbling clumsily towards them from the end of the corridor.

“Shit!” Cara let go of Maggie’s hand. “C’mon, we need to go back!”

“We can’t!” Maggie snapped and clutched the gun with both hands and pulled the trigger, hard. The corridor lit up with fire and blood as bullets embedded themselves in walker brains. They fell like dominoes, landing in a messy, bloody slump. As soon as Maggie’s arms got tired and she needed to reload, Lu leaped forward with the katana held high above his head, slicing through skulls like he was born to do it. Twenty seconds later, Maggie was back in action and finishing off the small herd. “We need to go, now! Which way?”

“Uh,” Lu fumbled around in his pockets to find his list. When he couldn’t find it, a look of panic etched itself on everyone’s face. “Fuck, I think I lost it in the bodies!”

They glanced at the undead, knowing there was no way in hell they’d find that piece of paper amongst them. Maggie was about to throw her gun to the floor in frustration there was a crackling overhead and a static-like voice rang out.

_“It’s on your next left, go straight then left.”_

Cara grinned. “Abraham!”

_“For Christ sakes, will you just go?”_

Lu nodded and gave a mock salute to the invisible camera that was evidently watching them. “Thanks, doc.”

Maggie grabbed Cara’s hand again, ignoring how they were both covered in blood so their hands were practically stuck together. The three of them raced down the final corridor and came to the last door with such speed that a shoulder barge from Maggie broke the door right off its hinges.

The garage’s main door was open, and about twenty bodies littered the concrete floor. There were a couple of walkers wandering around aimlessly, a few chomping down on some of the bodies, but Maggie paid them no mind. Instead, she made a beeline for the only vehicle that was right at the back.

“Holy shit, your wife drove one of _these_?” Lu breathed. He stared at the vehicle with huge, wide eyes. “What mark is it?”

Maggie smirked. “X24.”

The Humvee X24 was practically designed for the apocalypse, Maggie remembered Alex told her excitedly about it. It was an eight-wheeled matte black tank of awesomeness with a fully quipped fridge, gun safe, toilet and four bar-installed cells with a bed in each. The front cabin had gun-holders, something which Alex had been particularly excited about, and was completely bulletproof. The main living room contained another bed above the front cabin and had shelves for cups and bowls, with a drawer for cutlery. On the roof were expertly installed solar panels that powered the ridiculously powerful engine. Lu pulled down the step for the side door and clambered in, with Cara following.

“This is some powerful stuff, Maggie.” He exhaled. “Have you driven one of these things before?”

“Nope. Alex only got to use it in emergencies, and it was for her rank only.” Maggie replied, clambering into the front. The key was in the ignition. She turned it on, and it hummed into life with a rich growl. It was the stuff of legend. “No, I’ve never gotten to drive one. But, god, I’ve always wanted to.” She looked over her shoulder. “How long have we got left on that timer?”

Lu checked the watch on his wrist. “Twenty minutes.”

“Awesome, time to spare.” Maggie grinned. She took off her weapons and dumped them onto the seat beside her whilst the other two started to cram everything into the safe. The former detective stepped on the accelerator and let the Humvee scream out of the garage and back onto the streets, swerving around the dead piles. It took them a few minutes but soon they were getting close to the suburbs again and heading back to camp.

They were just passing the neighbourhood where they’d lost Paul when suddenly a huge boom made everybody’s ears bleed and the ground shake like it was about to swallow the world whole. Maggie slammed on the brakes, ducking and covering her ears. The others did the same, stuffing their heads under the cushions and crying out in pain. The place shook for some time, making the plastic cup in the shelves rattle and fall from their places.

Maggie pulled herself to look out of the window, grimacing against her ringing ears. She couldn’t even see the city through the smoke. It had been hidden in black smoke, falling ash and chunks of debris. A mushroom cloud filled the sky, turning it black as it reached beyond the clouds. A huge gust of wind smacked Maggie full in the face as the aftermath rushed past them. She had to hold so tightly to the sill of the truck that her knuckles turned white.

“Fucking hell!” She shouted, wincing again as her ears were still blocked. The brunette disappeared back into the Humvee and smashed her foot against the pedal, once again letting it launch away again. It was starting to get dark, and Maggie didn’t want to be out here in the dark. On the bright side, at least all walkers within a hundred miles would now be heading for the city, and not fleshing out to their camp.

As they drove away, Maggie glanced occasionally in her mirror to see what was left of the DEO but she knew as soon as the smoke cleared, all that would be left would be a huge gaping hole. Suddenly that fire she’d seen earlier in the day didn’t seem as much of a threat as it had done. Strangely, she felt a small sense of loss in her chest every time she caught a glimpse of the building that had just been blown into the stratosphere. Perhaps it was the memories that had just turned as grey as the soot that settled on the streets, or maybe the fact that two people – and technically Winn – had just gone up with the building. Something was going to make her miss it, and she hoped she wouldn’t forget it.

Lu clambered into the seat next to Maggie and sighed heavily. “God, this is the comfiest thing I’ve sat in all day. You alright?”

Maggie scoffed and shook her head. “I should be asking if _you’re_ alright. I take you on this stupid mission and you lose your best friend before we even got there.” She sighed. “Fuck, I haven’t even apologised either.”

Lu shook his own head. “Don’t worry about it. It was Paul’s own fault: he could be crazy like that. Once he broke my limited-edition Luke Skywalker lightsabre because I didn’t get rid of the empty milk carton I left in the fridge.” He explained. “I don’t think he wouldn’t have lasted too long in this kind of world. In fact, I think I had bets on that.”

She grinned. “I would’ve broken your nerd toy if you left empty milk cartons in the fridge.”

The two shared a short laugh before settling into their seats properly. There was a pause, a minute long of silence before Lu spoke again.

“So, who’s Cara?” He asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. “You two seem…close.”

Maggie flexed her fingers on the wheel and sat a little closer to it. “Mhm, yeah.” She responded in a dulled tone. “We knew each other before this whole thing went down.”

“Oh?”

“Yep.” Maggie knew what Lu was expecting to hear, and it was making her uncomfortable to admit the truth again. Last time she’d admitted that truth was when it had been raining in the middle of Noor Street, when Alex had dragged her outside so that Jaime wouldn’t hear them screaming at each other. God, that was six months ago. Felt like centuries.

“Did she work in the NCPD with you?”

“Ask her.”

“She’s asleep.”

“Already?” Maggie clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes. She’d forgotten her theory that Cara had a sleep button in the side of her head that let her sleep anywhere at any time. The former detective resisted a chuckle to herself. “Explains why you’re asking _me_ all these questions.”

“Please, I haven’t heard any good stories since the world ended.” He begged, making big puppy eyes at her from behind his glasses.

Maggie glared at him, raising an eyebrow and when she realised her wasn’t going to stop until he got an answer: she sighed and relaxed in her seat. “If I tell you how I know Cara, you’ve got to promise to not tell Jaime because she doesn’t know – alright?”

“Swear on my life.”

Her fingers splayed again on the wheel as she pondered for another moment whether she should tell this story. She probably shouldn’t, she reckoned, but she felt like she could trust Lu.

“Right, hm, okay. Where to begin?” She mumbled to herself before turning to address Lu. He was already literally sat on the edge of his seat, looking at her expectantly. Maggie figured he was expecting it to be a good a story as his comics. “Okay. So, you know I was a police officer right?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, eight months before this all kicked off, I got to go on undercover. This was a big case, right, one that was gonna get me a big promotion. _Captain_ kind of rank. We were hunting down this gang, the Myersons. Never caught them, by the way. I was on stakeout of them a week before – “

“Get to the point. No side stories.” Lu interrupted cheekily, earning another side glance from the brunette to which he promptly shut up.

“Sorry. Anyways, so I had to become a part of the gang so we could bust them for murder, drugs, kidnapping – you name it, we had them down for it. _Cara_ is the head guy’s daughter.” Maggie took another breath, still wondering whether she should be confiding in Lu. But, for what was maybe the second time that day, she thought _fuck it_.

“Anyway, I went undercover in the gang and – “ Maggie took a big breath in. “- and I had to sleep with Cara to get myself in with her father. After I got found out and the undercover ended, I…didn’t exactly stop there. I had an affair with the daughter of a drug kingpin, and **_that_** is the reason that Alex and I are getting a divorce.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you it'd be a big chapter. YES SANVERS IS ENDGAME AND IT WILL BE ENDGAME IN THIS BOOK. But...it's going to hurt first.


End file.
